Distributing Print Indie Books

Terri Giuliano Long of Indie Reader recently explored the question Why You Can’t Find Indies In Store. The post gives a brief history of how self-published books were once shunned by readers, but now digital editions are thriving. With that success comes the clamoring of readers who want print editions—and they want them in the book stores.

So why is it still such a challenge for indie authors to get their books distributed into stores?

Some of the challenge comes from the traditional publishing and distribution model, which allowed book stores to return books for credit. Since most indie authors are employing print-on-demand (POD) technologies, they cannot allow returns. Nor can they afford to pre-buy the copies and send to the stores.

Long shares some options being explored by John Locke, Barbara Freethy and literary agent Jenny Bent. We recommend the full article, which contains a number of links and some insights to the future of distribution for indies.